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New study reveals a troubling aspect of microplastics

As the plastic in our oceans breaks up into smaller and smaller bits without breaking down chemically, the resulting microplastics are becoming a serious ecological problem.

24 Dec 2020

Scientists discover new class of compounds for combating antimicrobial resistance

Wistar Institute scientists have discovered a new class of compounds that uniquely combine direct antibiotic killing of pan drug-resistant bacterial pathogens with a simultaneous rapid immune response for combatting antimicrobial resistance (AMR). These finding were published today in Nature.

24 Dec 2020

Transporter protein likely played a crucial role in vertebrate evolution

A transporter protein that regulates cell membrane cholesterol likely played an important role in vertebrate evolution, according to a review published by iCeMS researchers in the journal FEBS Letters.

24 Dec 2020

Scientists identify new weapon to fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria

As scientists around the globe wage war against a novel, deadly virus, one University of Colorado Boulder lab is working on new weapons to battle a different microbial threat: a rising tide of antibiotic-resistant bacteria which, if left unchecked, could kill an estimated 10 million people annually by 2050.

24 Dec 2020

Researchers use different colors of light to control gut bacteria genes

Baylor College of Medicine researcher Meng Wang had already shown that bacteria that make a metabolite called colanic acid (CA) could extend the lifespan of worms in her lab by as much as 50%, but her collaboration with Rice University synthetic biologist Jeffrey Tabor is providing tools to answer the bigger question of how the metabolite imparts longer life.

23 Dec 2020

Research sheds new light on immune system interactions with cancer

Cancers like melanoma are hard to treat, not least because they have a varied bag of tricks for defeating or evading treatments.

22 Dec 2020

Inhaling wildfire smoke's microbial content can increase risk of infection

Wildfire smoke contains microbes, a fact that's often ignored, but one that may have important health repercussions.

From The University of California, Davis 21 Dec 2020

New study targets small proteins in Salmonella to combat the pathogen

Salmonella is a type of bacteria that causes food poisoning upon infection, with acute diarrhea.

17 Dec 2020

Study investigates the role of soil and root microbes in Huanglongbing disease

A UC Riverside-led team is looking at tiny underground microorganisms for a way to prevent a huge problem -- Huanglongbing, a disease for which there is no cure that has decimated citrus orchards worldwide.

17 Dec 2020

Gene expression database sheds light on pneumococcal infection

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine published one of the most comprehensive analyses of how genes get expressed during infection (known as a transcriptome).

16 Dec 2020

Study: Eating avocado as part of daily diet can help improve gut health

Eating avocado as part of your daily diet can help improve gut health, a new study from University of Illinois shows. Avocados are a healthy food that is high in dietary fiber and monounsaturated fat. However, it was not clear how avocados impact the microbes in the gastrointestinal system or "gut."

16 Dec 2020

Biochemical methods reveal signal transduction mystery inside human pathogen

In order to adapt to the changing environment, bacteria must quickly transform extracellular information into appropriate intracellular reactions. Two component system (TCS) is the main signal transduction protein in prokaryotic cells to transform environmental stimuli into cellular responses.

16 Dec 2020

Tumor's stiff-arm tactic restricts the effectiveness of checkpoint inhibitors

In a paper just published in the Journal for the Immunotherapy of Cancer (doi:10.1136/jitc-2020-001712), Dr. Herbert, Head of Discovery at InsideOutBio, asks whether cancer cells stiff-arm immune cells just like rugby players push off defenders from the other team.

16 Dec 2020